2017 Music Week Awards Independent Retailer shortlist revealed

Today, we can finally reveal the shortlist for the Independent Retailer Award, sponsored by Proper Music Group, category at this year’s Music Week Awards.

The nominees for the coveted accolade are last year's defending champions Banquet Records (Kingston), as well as Drift (Totnes), Forever Records (Nottingham), Monorail (Glasgow) and Rough Trade (London). The award honours independently-owned music retailers based on a number of criteria, including their importance to the local music community.

The rest of the 2017 Music Week Awards nominees were announced in January and can be viewed in full here.

Taking place on Wednesday, April 5 at London’s Grosvenor House, the Music Week Awards are the UK's only music awards that recognise labels, publishing, live, retail, A&R, radio, marketing and PR. This year’s event will be hosted by Lauren Laverne, the acclaimed presenter of the daily show on BBC 6 Music and regular Late Night Woman’s Hour programmes on Radio 4.

Alongside traditional Music Week Awards mainstays, several brand new categories have also been introduced this year: Music Retailer; Publisher of the Year; Law Firm of the Year; Grassroots Venue; and Festival of the Year. As ever, the big award, The Strat, will be announced on the night, honouring an outstanding contribution to the music business by an exceptional individual.

Last year’s show saw former Universal executive Max Hole pick up The Strat, while XL Recordings picked up the Record Company gong.